OK so this will be my first year burning with my Englander 30...I have just finished c/s/s 5 cords that i hope will get me through my first winter with it. I know there is not much drying time left between now and winter, but I cut alot of Ash and Locust which may be ok come December...it was all standing dead. Anyways I am now on to next winters wood and will now be concentrating on Gypsy moth killed Oak. So I am currently working on cutting about 4 cords of Red and white oak that will be c/s/s within the next month. Think it will be dry enough by next winter?
Dry for next year?
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Split the oak thin and stack in single rows with space in between and you will be ok, oh yeah try to get as much sun and wind also! But the key is the size of the split "regular" size splits Prolly will need more time..... mine do but small splits dry faster of course
Dunno...only time will tell. Split it on the small side and stack it loosely to season in the most favorable sun/wind exposure conditions you have available. Get a moisture meter and check a resplit from time to time to see how it's coming along. It's all you can do. Rick
Depends, sometimes you get lucky if it's been standing dead for awhile. The tops could be good to go but the lower trunk could still be as wet as a live tree.
Todd said:
Yup, I found that to be the case with some Silver Maple I recently snagged from a tree service guy. Standing dead...meaning the tree was definitely dying...most of the branch wood was dry and cracked the length of the pieces. Get down into the lower trunk, and it was nowhere near as dry. Freshly split branch pieces were reading ~12%mc...freshly split trunk pieces were reading ~33%mc. Interesting. Rick
fossil said:
Me thinx Rick is going to have some fun with that maple ;-P
To the OP, if it's split smallish (split some that way, not all) you might catch the end of the wnter. You'll have a good start on the next winter. Especially if you have access to ash & locust to supplement it.
Geez, I've been hanging out here to long
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fossil said:Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle said:
Well, now, with an opening like that, I could say something really crass, like, "Oh, count on it, I always have fun with my wood". But then, you know I'm above that sort of thing.Rick
LMAO !!
As mentioned before, buy a moisture meter and you can tell right away when you cut the standing dead trees if they are ready to burn, close to ready or no where near ready.
Hi Jstellfox, I think you might be good. I don't think most of the guys remember the gypsy moths, that happened 20 years ago. I unfortuneatley have alot of dead oak from the Gypsy moths and I was surprised how dry the oak was, especially towards the branch ends. You might post some pictures to give us a look. I found the wood to be extremely light for Oak and even dry, in the 20 to 27 percent range. Some was over 30 on a fresh split but the wood is really light for Oak, so my bet is if your wood is like mine it will be good. You might even sneak some in this year. A moisture meter would help in your first year. Cherry was my savior the first year, which was last year. I have 15 cords cut/stacked and split now. The Ash and Locust are also great woods.
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